Humidifier



@Magi-26, 1942. GoobMAN r-:rAL 2,284,195

gUMIDIFIER l y Filed June 26, 1940 AT1-CRN EY Patented May 26, 1942 UNTED STATSl PATENT' @Fries HUMIDIFIER Harry Goodman and Vachel S. Dillingham,

(klahoma City, Okla.

more particularly to a new type in which water is finely atomized and distributed either over a desired scrubber or eliminator area or thru the atmosphere by means of centrifugal force combined with forced air currents. In other words a unit which is suitable for Ause either in direct or indirect humidication.

It is a principal object of the invention to pro'- vide a device of this class which breaks up the water so finely and simultaneously subjects such a volume of air to contact with these finely broken up water particles, that the water particles are evaporated extremely rapidly, thus eliminating the usual necessity and inconvenience of using scrubbers or eliminators, and consequently making it possible to provide a relatively small and extremely compact unit with a relatively large humidiiication capacity.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unit of this class which may be used either as a straight humidifying unit, or may be used in connection with an air flow chamber for evaporative cooling of air.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of this class which is designed for low cost quantity production, and which can, therefore, be made available to the general buying public at a much lower price than similar devices available for performing equivalent results.

ing, which is chosen for illustrative purposes` only, and in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view showing the details in the construction of a preferred rform of the invention;

Figure Z is a fragmentary plan View showing further constructional details of a portion of the rotor; l

Figure 3 is a side elevation illustrating one practical manner of installing the invention;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a preferred means of automatically controlling operation of the invention,` and shows particularly an installation in which water is delivered to the device directly from a pipe connected to a city water supply system;

lFigure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 but illustrates particularly an installation in which water is delivered to the device by a suitable pump lifting water fro-m a tank or other place of storage.

Like characters of reference designate like` lparts in all the gures.

Referring particularly to Figure l of the drawing it will be seen .that the invention includes a hollow rotor designated as a whole by the numeral I Il. This rotor is made up of two main parts, which for purposes of convenience in description will be termed a bladed discharge disc II, and an intake disc I2. 4The two discs are held together as a unit by any suitable means, as by screws I3. As will be seen clearly from Figure 2, the disc II, adjacent its periphery, is provided with a plurality of spaced integral arcuate blades I4 which form a radial flow or blower type fan. While the drawing illustrates backward curved blades, it will be apparent that forward curved blades may be substituted if desired., This disc I I is also provided with a concentrically positioned integral substantially cone shaped inwardly projecting feeder hub I5, the tip or point of which projects slightly into the throat of a relatively large Venturi type air intake tube I6 carried integrally and concentrically by the disc I2. The outer end of the tube I6 is iiared to a considerably greater diameter than its throat, which greatly increases the volume of air intake due to the high velocity of air passing through the throat and out radially between the surfaces of the discs, and between the fan blades I4.

In Figure 1 it will be noted that the discs II and I 2 are respectively provided with a plurality of annular corrugations I'I-I 8 and I 9-2, and that these corrugations are not in axial alignment, but are offset with relation to each other. The irregular shaping, spacing and depth of these corrugations on the respective discs affords a sinuous path thru which both air and water particles must travel before discharge from the periphery of the rotor. The corrugations thus serve to at least partially break up water as it travels from the tip of the feeder hub I5 toward its point of discharge, and as baflles to prevent the direct discharge of comparatively large droplets of water from the hub into the atmosphere. Water is, of course, fed to the rotor thru a tube 2I which preferably has a ared end, as shown, and which is positioned to encompass at least a portion of the tip of the feeder hub I5. The feeder hub The rotor may be mounted on the fshaft 22 of an electric motor 23 by means of a set screw 24 threaded into an external hub 25 which is integral with the disc H. It will be apparent, however, that such a rotor may be mounted or driven in any other desired manner and be equally eiicient in producing the results for which it was designed, namely,`to atomize a comparatively large volume of water in a comparatively short time, and to forcibly distribute the atoms or water vapor by forced air currents.

Figure 3 illustrates one of the many ways in which our invention may be'installed for practical operation. In this particular installation the unit is suspended from the ceiling of a building with the rotor axis in vertical position so that water vapor is discharged'radially in a substantially horizontal plane. or bowl 26 having a high center, as shown clearly in Figure 1, is mounted beneath the rotor. In

Athis particular case the weight of the motor 23 is supported from the bowl 2S by means of screws 21 passing thru spacers 28 and into the motor housing. The weight of the bowl, in turn, is supported by means of a plurality of prongs 2S, 30 and 3| attached to the lower end of a hanger 32, the upper end of which is anchored Ato the ceiling. The hub 25 passes thru a central perforation in the bowl 26, as shown in Figure 1. The water supply line 2| passes thru the hollow hanger 32, as do the wires for conducting electricity to the motor. A drain plug 33 is provided at a low point in the bowl 26, altho in actual operation it has been found that the amount of water actually deposited in the bowl during operation is very small, and that when the feeding of water to the device is governed by the relative humidity of the atmosphere, there is little or no danger of the bowl flooding.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate jdiagrammatically different manners of installing and controlling the operation of the device. In the Figure 4 installation water is fed to the device thru a valve 34 which is connected to a source of water supply which is under a substantially constant pressure, such as in a city or plant water supply system. The valve is opened and closed by means of a relay 35. The relay is wired in series with the motor 36, and the circuit is opened and closed by an ordinary humidostat 3l, so that the valve' opens and the motor simultaneously starts when the j relative humidity in the vicinity of the humidostat drops below a predetermined point.

AIn the Figure illustration the unit is shown as being furnished water from an individual motor driven pump 3B. The pump motor 39 is con-V nected in series with themotor 36 which drives the rotor of the humidifier unit. The humidostat 31 opens and closes the electrical circuit as in the Figure 4 installation, so that water is furnished to the rotor of the humidifier only whenV the rotor is actually rotating and can dispose of the water fed to it. In any installation the maximum volume of water which is fed to the rotor must be governed by the ability of the specific unit used to atomize and distribute that volume of water. That ability, in turn, depends A shallow drip l pan be seen that we have provided a humidifier which is much more eicient than such devices of comparable size due to the fact that it utilizes both centrifugal force and forced air currents to atomize water and distribute the water particles, and also because by thus combining these two forces `it atomizes water much more minutely than other presently available devices sold for a similar purpose. Our invention thus makes it possible for a much greater percentage of the ,water used to be evaporated by the air.

Having described the invention and its objects, we claim:

' 1.' A humidifier unit comprising: a rotor in the form of a centrifugal type peripherally bladed fan which includes at least two concentric narrowly spaced solid discs, one of which has a concentric central opening affording communication in an axial direction between the atmosphere and the space between the discs; a substantially conical concentric feeder hub carried by the other disc, its tip or pointed end projecting axially toward the opening in the first mentioned disc; a plurality of annular baffles on the inner surface of each disc, said bales forming a sinuous radial path therebetween; power means for'driving said rotor; and a feed tube extending thru the opening in one of said discs and into the space between them for delivering liquidV directly onto the surface of said feeder hub.

2. A humidifier unit comprising: a rotor in the form of a centrifugal type peripherally bladed fan whichincludes at least two concentric narrowly spaced solid discs, one of which has a concentric central opening affording communication in an axial direction between the atmosphere and the space between the discs; a substantially conical concentric feeder hub carried by the other disc, its tip or pointed end projecting axially toward the opening in the first mentioned disc; a plurality of annular baffles on the inner surface of each disc, said baiiies forming a sinuous radial path therebetween; power means for driving said rotor; a feed tube extending thru said opening in one of said discs for feeding liquid directly onto the conical surface of said feeder hub; and a concentrically mounted ared tube carried by said first mentioned disc, the smaller end of said tube being in open communication with said opening, whereby `air is forcibly pulled axially along said feed tube onto Y said feeder hub and into the space between said discs as the rotor rotates.

3. A humidier unit comprising: a rotor in the form of a centrifugal type peripherally bladed fan which includes at least two concentric narrowly spaced solid discs; a concentric opening in one of said discs aifording communication in an axial direction between the atmosphere and the space between the discs; a substantially conical concentric feeder hub carried by the other disc, its tip or pointed end projecting axl ially toward the opening in the first mentioned on many factors, such as:v diameter of rotor, Y

width of rotor blades, rotational speed of rotor, the complexity of the corrugations or baffles of the rotor, etc. i

From this description of the invention itrwill disc; a plurality of annular baflles on the inner surface of each disc, said baffles forming a sinuous radial path therebetween; power means for drivfing said rotor; a ared feed tube partially enleast two concentric closely adjacent but spaced discs; annular corrugations in said discs intermediate their respective axes and peripheries defining a sinuous radial path therebetween; a con-V centric opening in at least one of said discs affording communication between the atmosphere and the space between said discs; a substantially conical concentric feeder hub carried integrally by the other of said discs, its tip or pointed end projecting axially toward the opening in the first mentioned disc; power a feed tube for rotating said fan; a feed tube for feeding a liquid directly onto said feeder hub through said opening; and control means responsive to f predetermined changes in= relative atmospheric humidity for controlling the operation of said power means and the feeding of water through said feed tube.

5. A humidifier unit comprising: a centrifugal type peropherally bladed fan which includes at least two concentric, spaced, annularly corrugated discs; a central opening in one of said discs for the introduction of air and water to the space therebetween; a concentric feeder hub carried by the other of said discs, and so shaped asto centrifugally discharge water from its periphery at points between said discs instead of along their surfaces; an axially disposed stationary feed tube for delivering liquid directly onto the surface of said feeder hub; and a Venturi type air tube carried concentrically by the disc having said central opening whereby, as said fan is rotated, air at high velocity passes axially along said feed tube, along said feeder hub, and out through the sinuous path between said discs, carrying with it water in extremely minute particles.

HARRY GOODMAN. VACHEL S. DILLINGHAM. 

